The Big Rescue
by jajenshadimose6012
Summary: This is a one-shot Silver Shadows fic that takes place after The Fiery Heart in the Bloodlines series, so if you haven't read Bloodlines, I wouldn't read this story yet. In this fic, Adrian pulls a favor with Rose who gets Abe to find out where Sydney is being held, and then they stage a grand rescue to go and break her out of the Alchemist holding facility. Hope you enjoy!


**ADRIAN POV:**

I had no idea how Abe Mazur was able to find out where the Alchemists were holding Sydney since they came and hauled her away several weeks ago, but far be it for me to question a vampire mobster, who perhaps most importantly, was willing to assist in getting me the information I needed with no strings attached. Thanks to my ill-fated romance with his daughter, Rose Hathaway, I think she still felt like she owed me for the way she left things between us, and when I came to her for help about a week ago, she vehemently assured me that she would take care of everything and she would make sure we got Sydney out of that godforsaken place. I can only assume that's when she got her infamous father involved, but the instant she said jump, he was only too eager to jump through all kinds of hoops to help us break Sydney free. That was probably just his twisted way of making up for paternal negligence throughout the years, but if that was his reasoning for doing so, then that just made me all the more grateful that he was absent in Rose's life for all that time.

It took Old Man Mazur only a matter of a couple days, and there's no telling what unspeakable, horrific acts he resorted to in order to retrieve Sydney's location, but since he was dealing with a group of humans that were convinced all vampires were the spawn of Satan, he probably didn't have to twist too many arms along the way, considering his badass reputation among Moroi and Alchemists alike. And now, here we were standing outside the holding facility where Sydney was being held, waiting to stage the break-in of the lifetime. I glanced over anxiously at my companions to make sure they knew what they were getting into before they got their names put on the Alchemists' shit list just for me. No, I thought. Not for me. It wasn't for me at all. It was for her. For Sydney.

Off to my right hand side, Eddie Castile stood, eyes blazing with battle fury and his body crackling with power and energy, ready to take on the armies of the world to help rescue his friend. Angeline Dawes stood right beside him, her lithe figure crouching down behind a narrow bush which provided little cover, but at this point, even a little was enough. She too was ready for whatever we were about to face, and off behind her, was her boyfriend Trey Juarez—a former vampire hunter (or Warrior of Light, as they liked to call themselves) who also considered Sydney a dear friend. He rested a reassuring hand on Angeline's shoulder, even while his free hand was currently wielding a sword that used to belong to the vampire hunters. He must have taken it for himself as a parting gift, but however he got this sword to his name, I was eternally grateful for it tonight.

And then off to my left, I saw the aforementioned ex-girlfriend of mine—the legendary and well-renowned Rose Hathaway, who was exchanging a knowing glance with her guardian boyfriend—and my former rival—Dimitri Belikov. They were both braced for battle, both their bodies coiled and ready to attack the next thing that leapt into their path. As I saw the way their eyes met and the connection and understanding that burned between them, I couldn't help but be reminded of my own connection with Sydney.

God, it was hell for me to think of the woman I loved being locked away in this place, undergoing whatever mind games or physical torture the Alchemists cooked up for her. I couldn't put form to a single thought of anything of that nature, because any time I even tried to think about anyone hurting Sydney, I would just lose it. It filled with me with a rage and fury that made my spirit crashes seem like a freaking tea party. In that moment, I needed Sydney to get me through this daunting task which lay before me. I envisioned her perfectly in my mind's eye, with that hair of pure gold and those gorgeous amber eyes of hers, gazing into mine adoringly. I thought back to the look in those eyes when she first told me she loved me. I thought back to the passion and hunger I discovered hidden away in her the first time we kissed. I thought about how it felt to hold her in my arms and the fierce way she clung to me, like she was afraid I would be forever lost to her if she loosened her grip for one second, whenever we were together. I thought about our last night together, before she was so cruelly ripped away from me…the passion burning in her eyes and the love and desire that came spilling out of her and came pouring into me. My God, there was nothing like it in the world. I wished so desperately that she was here right now, that I could take her in my arms and go where nobody could ever hurt us again. One day, I thought. One day, we'll get there. We'll be together someday—just the two of us—and nothing will ever come between us again.

As I watched the familiar way in which Rose and Dimitri interacted with one another, I felt a surprising sense of nostalgia and longing. I thought I had that once upon a time, when Rose and I were together, but now as I saw how perfectly those two worked together in moments of crises and how beautifully they complemented one another, I knew, without a doubt in my mind, that she had made the right choice. Rose and Dimitri really did belong together, and I didn't truly understand why until I found that same sense of belonging with Sydney. And now, I couldn't imagine being with anyone else. I couldn't imagine how things would be if it hadn't worked out for Rose and Dimitri; I couldn't imagine how things would be if I had never known the love I have found in Sydney. It was just astonishing, and I wouldn't trade what I had with Sydney for the world.

Dimitri gave a curt nod in response to something that Rose had just mouthed to him, and I saw her lips curl up in a small smile, and then she mouthed the words: "I love you too" to him.

Okay, that made my heart clench a little; I'm not gonna lie. God, I wanted so badly for Sydney to be here beside me. That's the way it was supposed to be. We weren't supposed to be apart like this. We were supposed to go through life together, facing our battles down as a team and defeating our opponents one at a time. She wasn't supposed to be locked away from the world, forced to endure this hell for falling in love with me. She wasn't supposed to be out of my reach. I closed my eyes and glanced away from Rose and Dimitri, not wanting to have a meltdown in front of them—and certainly not now, of all times.

"All right," a low voice came to us, and out of the darkness of the trees behind us, Abe Mazur materialized, looking as bright and chipper as if he were on his way to crash another one of the royal functions he somehow always found a way to attend, despite being an unroyal Moroi. "Let's do this. Now, remember what I said. Sydney is being held in a cell at the back of the building, and according to my informant, she is being monitored 24/7—"

"Thank you for your delightful input," I snapped, not wanting to hear a repeat of the information he had delivered to me this morning. "But I heard you loud and clear the first time, and I don't need to hear it again. Let's just get in there and get this done."

"Adrian," a familiar voice said, and I turned around to see Jackie Terwilliger—Sydney's magic mentor standing behind me—radiating courage and determination. She rested a comforting hand on my shoulder and offered me a small, reassuring smile. "We'll get her out of here, I promise. Nothing is going to happen. And we're all here for you; we won't let anything go wrong."

I mumbled a gruff thanks and then turned back around, ready to face down the mission before me. "Okay, let's go. You all know your assignments. Split up and keep the Alchemists off me, by whatever means necessary. I'm going in for Sydney…and I'm not leaving here without her."

**SYDNEY POV:**

I didn't need sirens and giant red flashing lights to alert me to the fact that something was up. I could just sense the shift in the atmosphere. I could hear it in the voice of the person who kept feeding me the same party lines, demanding that I repeat them back to her and then tormenting me when I adamantly refused. As if it's not bad enough holding some poor girl hostage in freezing cold temperatures, forcing her to be naked the entire time, and refusing to feed her all the while. I don't know what it was, but I could sense the tension and I could tell that something big was going down. And something inside me—some gut instinct, I guess—told me that I was the reason why.

It wasn't long before I heard shouts and vicious blows being exchanged somewhere outside my cell. The acoustics in my cell made for an interesting sound effect, making it seem like the outside noise was bottled up, like it was happening a million miles away, even though I knew that couldn't possibly be the case. I had to give the person watching over me props, though, for going on like nothing was amiss. That damn voice kept going on and on, insisting that I confess my sins and say that I want to be better and "have the darkness purged", but after several weeks and more of the same, I still refused to crack. I knew where my loyalty lie, and it certainly wasn't with these people—even if they were the ones that raised me. Their belief system wasn't just flawed; it was downright catastrophic. I could not believe I once shared their beliefs, but after everything I had been through, I was convinced—now more than ever—that the Alchemists were the real monsters here, not the Moroi.

And certainly not Adrian.

Oh, God…Adrian. Just thinking of his name made me ache. He might have been the reason I was locked away right now, but I honestly wouldn't have it any other way. I knew that he was safe, in the safety of Palm Springs, and that's all that mattered to me. The only thing eating at me was wondering how he was doing with spirit, the psychic element he wielded that allowed him to heal the injured and walk in other people's dreams. The only thing was that power of such great magnitude came with the tremendous cost of the user's sanity, and Adrian had been walking along that brink long before he even knew me. The idea of him ever losing himself or being hurt—or God forbid, killed—due to his element tore me up inside, and I hoped and prayed every day that he was doing okay and that Jill and the rest of the gang was helping him to balance it out. When I was taken away from him, he had been on mood stabilizers, which had helped him considerably to cope with the downsides of spirit by suppressing its abilities and restoring his sanity inasmuch as it could. He was doing remarkably well, and I was so proud of him and the great strength that I always knew he possessed.

However, something told me—maybe it was intuition or maybe it was just my knowledge of the man I loved—that he had stopped taking the medication and was now battling with spirit's feats once again. The thought killed me, but somehow, I knew that once I had been taken, he had given up his sanity and tapped into spirit once more in the hopes of finding me. I had no concrete evidence of that, of course, only my own musings, but even so, I couldn't help but wonder—if he had indeed given up the stabilizers—had he tried reaching me in a spirit dream at all? How many times had he tried reaching out to me? God, what I wouldn't give for the next time I closed my eyes to be the time that he's there, ready and waiting to draw me into his loving embrace and never let me go. Just the thought of his warm, strong arms around me made my body feel empty without him. Every inch of me ached for him—for his touch—and I wished so desperately that I could see him again—just once. I just wanted to look into those beautiful emerald eyes of his one more time. I wanted to see that dazzling carefree smile of his that always managed to captivate me and made my knees go weak. I wanted to hear his voice telling me he loved me again. I wanted to feel his arms wrap around me and have him lend me the strength I so desperately needed right now. I wanted to feel his skin beneath my fingertips, golden and wonderful. I wanted to feel his lips against mine, passionate and fierce.

Before I could help myself, my trembling fingers moved up to my lips and I got swept away in the memory of the first time he kissed me. God, I had been such an idiot, treating him the way I did. That kiss had been the best thing that had ever happened to me. It fueled me with love and life and passion, and even now, I was amazed at how just that one kiss managed to completely alter my world. "Oh, Adrian…" I choked out, keeping my voice pitched low enough that my captors wouldn't hear me.

I squeezed my eyes shut and couldn't help the tears that escaped as I thought back to all the wonderful memories I had of him. Before I knew it, my entire body was trembling and it took all my strength to choke back the sobs that threatened to explode out of me.

My captors—ever vigilant—missed nothing, so they noticed me trembling, but they misattributed it to the cold temperatures. "If only you will say the words, Ms. Sage," the voice replied, sounding sad, "then we will turn up the temperature and make you warm. We will give you new, untainted clothes, and we will give you food. All you have to do is say the words: 'I am ready to have the darkness purged from me.'"

I had braced myself and was all ready to listen to the voice drone on for another hour or so before finally calling it quits, but this time was different. The sounds of the fighting got much closer, and before the voice could continue, I heard a loud crashing noise, followed by the sound of glass shattering. No. Not glass. Plastic. To be more specific, the bulletproof plastic I had been encased in since my arrival. What the—? How in the world did that happen?

I couldn't look for the answer to my questions, though, because the scientist in me was suppressed by the human in me that was looking to survive. My body curled in on itself in a useless attempt to save myself from any flying debris that could injure me, and my arms flew up to shield my face. It wasn't until I heard a familiar and more than welcome voice that I realized what had happened.

"How about saying, 'kiss my ass, dick bag? I'm done with this'."

I stifled a gasp and looked up eagerly to see Adrian standing up on a raised platform and an unconscious woman lying at my feet. It took a second for me to assess the situation and determine what was going on. I had no idea how my cell had been completely destroyed…until I saw Abe Mazur standing behind Adrian. Abe had obviously used his ability to manipulate earth to make my holding cell explode. As for how Adrian and Abe had knocked a woman unconscious and pulled off a rescue of this magnitude was beyond me, but that was a mystery for later. Right now, I was too elated by the fact that Adrian was here.

_Adrian was here! _

And he was going to save me.

"Adrian!" I choked on a sob, as I scrambled to my feet, only to collapse on all fours just seconds later. After being drugged repeatedly, my limbs had no working functions whatsoever. Honestly, I was surprised that I wasn't dead with the amounts of drugs they had been getting into my system.

"Sydney…" Adrian hurried forward, taking off his long wool winter coat as he did so, and draped it around my freezing cold, frail body, before gathering me up in his arms. "Oh, thank God!" he exclaimed, tightening his hold on me protectively. He held me for a long moment, almost seeming too scared to let me go for one second for fear of losing me again. Eventually, though, he pulled back to look me in the eyes and he cupped my face in his hands, regarding me intently.

"I'm sorry, I am so, so sorry. This is all my fault." The emotion burning in those eyes as he assessed me for injury made my body ache—in a wonderful way. "Are you okay?" he asked, looking me over for injury, as one of his hands moved to tuck some wayward strands of hair back behind my ear. "Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm fine—" I said, clinging to him just as tightly, terrified that someone would come in and break this spell.

"Begging your pardon over here," Abe's voice interjected, sounding rather impatient. "Far be it for me to stand in the way of a lover's reunion or anything; you know me, I'm all about the happy endings. But I didn't go to all this trouble and pull all these strings just to get caught! We need to get going now!"

Those words spurred Adrian to action and he stood up swiftly, gathering me in his arms, and then he took off running at a sprint. I would have thought my extra weight would've slowed him down, but I suppose the danger we faced was far too great for him to be hindered by such trivial matters.

As he ran, we came upon the sounds of more fighting and I caught sight of familiar figures fighting their way through this mess, providing one hell of a distraction so that Adrian could get me out of here unscathed. Rose and Dimitri's figures were unmistakable, and I supposed I shouldn't have been surprised that they were here, but I didn't have much time to think about the trouble they were potentially bringing down on themselves—and the Moroi/dhampir world altogether—if the Alchemists busted them on this. As we neared the outer edges of the building, I caught sight of Angeline and Trey. And Eddie. And most surprising of all was Ms. Terwilliger.

My God. All these people were here, putting themselves on the line for me. The thought made me want to cry, but I couldn't get caught up in the logistics just yet. Not when we had such dire circumstances to overcome here.

I lost track of where we were or where the exit was, but eventually we happened across a doorway and Adrian's feet pounded hard against the concrete as he hurried to get us out of here. My head was resting against his chest, and I could hear his heart pounding, which sounded like it was about to explode out of his chest.

"There's the exit!" he gasped out. "Almost there. We're so close, Sydney. I'm getting you the hell out of here, and we're gonna go somewhere where no one will ever find us again."

I couldn't bring myself to respond, mostly because I didn't want to distract him from the task at hand, but unfortunately when we reached the exit, we were bombarded by gun-wielding Alchemists and shots were fired behind us. Adrian started at the loud noise, which must've been hell on his ears with his superior hearing, and then he started running all the harder. More gunshots sounded, and Adrian did some fancy maneuvering to literally dodge the bullets.

It seemed like we had cleared the firing zone and were free out into the night when one final shot was fired and a grunt from Adrian told me that he was hit, but that didn't slow him down. He kept running and running and running, leaving our friends behind to fend for themselves and explain their way out of an Alchemist raid.

It soon became clear that Adrian wouldn't be able to run any cross-country marathons or anything, so he opted for another route and instead took an abrupt turn into a remarkably well-hidden tunnel, which spiraled downward, down further and further into the ground. And like that, we were plunged into more darkness, only this time, I didn't feel afraid. I felt amazingly reassured with Adrian holding me in his arms, and honestly, even if we had to live out the rest of our days on the run, hiding out in tunnels like this one, I didn't even care. I would do it in a heartbeat, just as long as it meant having him with me. And with Adrian by my side, there was nothing in this world I couldn't face down. Not even raging Alchemists that were looking to put a bullet into my brain.

**ADRIAN POV:**

Damn it. I knew I should've prepared for this better. When Abe had approached me with this sketchy plan to come rescue Sydney, I jumped at the chance, just because all I was thinking about was getting Sydney back and holding her in my arms again. That was all that mattered to me. I didn't factor in the possibility that I might get shot and thus, destroy any chance we might have of getting away.

"Adrian?" Sydney's voice murmured, and I could hear how terrified she was.

"I'm okay," I said gruffly, already guessing her motives and knowing what she was going to say.

"You are not!" she insisted. "We need to stop. You need to let me take a look at your wound."

"I'm fine, Sage!" I retorted. "And we can't stop. We have to keep going, otherwise they might come looking for us down here, and that raid will have been for nothing."

"You aren't going to be able to go much farther anyway with a bullet wound," she shot back. "Adrian, please. Please stop. You aren't going to be much good to me if you collapse in the middle of this tunnel. We'll be okay. Just let me take a look at it."

I contemplated her words for a long moment and tried to determine if we really would be okay if I allowed her this one indulgence. The bullet barely grazed me on the left side of my torso, but it still hurt like hell. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea to get it wrapped up or something just to be safe. I opted to crack a joke, hoping to lighten the mood between us. "No need to play coy, Sage. You just wanna see me take my shirt off."

"Adrian!" she chided, and I couldn't help but smile at the way she spoke my name. That was the way she always said my name when she was irritated, and I found it rather endearing to have it back. God, how I've missed that irritating chastising tone of hers!

"All right, fine," I relented. "But just a few more minutes. I wanna find an out of the way place here, in case they do come in after us. I wanna make sure we're well concealed."

After about twenty minutes, I found a little underground cavern that was probably about ten miles away from the Alchemist facility, and hopefully was out of the way enough that no one would find us here.

"This oughta do it," I said, gently placing her on the ground and using my superior vision to pull out a bag that Abe had stashed away in this particular location with some necessities that would get us by while we waited for the Alchemists to move on. I pulled out a lantern and, within seconds, I had it lit and set it on top of a large boulder so that it could fill the small cove with light. Then I collapsed to the ground, trying to make it look casual, like I was perfectly at ease and putting my feet up on my parents' custom-made coffee table instead of some jagged, fifty thousand year old rock.

The look on Sydney's face told me I failed miserably, and though her eyes spoke legions, she didn't put voice to it. Instead, she just cleared her throat and said, "Take off your shirt."

"Oh, yeah," I said, the laconic smile twisting at my lips a bit more forced than I would've liked. "Now we're getting down to the good stuff."

"Adrian!" she sighed. "Seriously, not now. This is so not the time or place to—" Her tongue locked up as she took a look around us and realized just how much planning went into this mission. She caught sight of the large bag sitting at my feet, and she didn't even know about the other two bags in the hidden compartments in the cave wall.

"What _is _this place?" she asked at last. "What is all of this?"

I sat up straight, thrilled that for once I had knowledge that I could share with her for a change—something that she didn't know about. "Funny you should ask," I declared. "This is an old, abandoned portion of the Underground Railroad." I paused and reconsidered that. "Well, obviously they're all old and abandoned now, but you know what I mean. When Abe found out where you were being held, he came up with this plan for us to wait it out and hide out here for a couple days or so while the Alchemists cleared out, and then we could get out and go hide somewhere for real. This is just temporary. But he planned out every detail strategically. He had these bags of necessities put here for us—this was the place he designated for us to come and hide out—and he told me about its layout and educated me quite copiously on it so that I would know all the ins and outs. Then, we came up with the plan to come bust you out and we got everyone who was willing to come fight for you, and now, here we are."

"And…what's going to happen to everyone else?" she asked, and the look in her eyes told me she already knew the answer, but she just couldn't stand to put voice to it.

"They're gonna fight their way out of it and then return to their respective locations," I told her. "And you and I are going to hide out here for as long as we can, and then we're going to get the hell out of here and flee to Mexico or swim to Hawaii or something. I don't know. We're just going anywhere that is not here, where Alchemists aren't running rampant and you and I will be free to be together forever."

"What about Jill and everyone else?"

"They're going back to Court, and Lissa will make sure everything's taken care of," I said. "She won't let anything happen to anybody. She'll make sure they're safe."

"And you?" she urged. "These are your people too, Adrian, your friends! You're really going to leave them—abandon Jill—just so that you can run away with me?"

"Jill will be fine, I already told you," I insisted. "Lissa will make sure she's safe. You don't have to worry about her. And honestly, Court isn't my place anymore. Maybe at one point it was, but now, my place is with you. And if being with you means giving them up, then so be it."

"Adrian—" Sadness filled her features and she shook her head in regret. "I can't…I can't ask you to do that for me."

"Well, then, good thing you're not asking me to do anything." I shrugged. "I'm making this decision on my own. There's no place in this world I'd rather be than right here with you."

"You say that now," she said, "but that is a lot that you'll be giving up for me, Adrian."

"And I'd give up a hell of a lot more than that," I pointed out. "This doesn't even scratch the surface."

"But…"

"No buts!" I insisted. "You and I both know that if roles were reversed, you would be making the exact same call to be with me. There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it, Sydney. It's just you and me. The rest will fall into place, but this is about you and me finally getting the happy ending that we deserve through whatever means necessary. I'll sleep on the hard ground, I'll endure freezing temperatures, I will do whatever it takes to keep you by my side. And if that means we get to go to Fiji, then that's just all the better."

"You are unbelievable," she said, shaking her head. "I can't believe you orchestrated this whole thing…You really are something else, you know that?"

"Yes," I said bluntly. "Now, if you look through that bag there, I think you'll find some first-aid products that Abe put in there…that should…I mean…we can…" My voice trailed off and became slurred and suddenly, the whole world started spinning around me. "Oh, man. I could've sworn there was only one giant boulder right there."

"Adrian?" Sydney approached me without hesitation and instantly dropped down to her knees to be at my level. "You shouldn't have come this far, not with that wound. Here, take off your shirt and let me see."

I complied without further comment, wincing as a particularly difficult maneuver pressed painfully on the wound. Sydney reached forward and helped me remove the shirt the rest of the way, and even just the slightest brushing of her fingertips against my skin sent thrills through me.

I tried to keep my face neutral as she lifted my arm and studied the wound with an expert eye, but it was so hard not to be swept away in her agonizing beauty. Seeing her now and having her touch me after so long without contact caused me such inexplicable agony that made that gunshot wound feel like a mosquito bite. It was wonderful and terrible at the same time. It was hard to explain or to put my feelings into words, but suddenly, my entire being was enveloped in this all-encompassing feeling of love and warmth and comfort, and I knew that despite the complications it inevitably brought down upon me, this is exactly where I was meant to be.

"I don't think it actually penetrated the skin," she said at last, now reaching into the bag and pulling out some antiseptic to clean out the wound. "I don't see any trace of the bullet anywhere, so it must've ricocheted and landed somewhere else. And the wound's not too deep, so you should be—"

Her words cut off abruptly as she caught sight of me and she grew startled as she really studied my features and saw the incredible toll that this was taking on me. "Oh, my God, Adrian!" she exclaimed, reaching up with one hand and running her trembling fingers through my hair, which was damp with perspiration. Beads of sweat were forming along my skin and my breathing was becoming shallow; it was becoming harder and harder to maintain consciousness. And I knew that if I could look in a mirror, my skin would be so pale that I could probably rival a Strigoi—the evil, undead vampires that preyed upon innocent people and killed for their blood.

"What happened to you?!" she cried, as she fumbled to wrap up the wound and contain the bleeding. "I don't understand. Your wound wasn't that bad; it shouldn't be affecting you this badly! There's not even that much blood—"

Recognition lit her features, and her eyes widened in understanding as she finally grasped the problem. "Blood," she murmured softly, mostly to herself. "Adrian…when was the last time you…" She couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence, and despite all the progress she had made over the past couple months in regards to what I was and the fact that I subsisted partly on blood, I think it still kind of rubbed her the wrong way when she really let herself think about it.

"It's been a while," I grudgingly admitted, mentally retracing my past few weeks to try and remember when the last time actually was. "Maybe a week or two?" That might've been stretching it a little, considering the fact that I'd been so caught up in my goal of rescuing Sydney that the last time I remembered visiting Clarence's was actually three weeks ago…shortly after Sydney had been taken.

"Adrian!" Her eyes nearly bugged out of her head with that realization, and she shook her head in disbelief. "You can't do that! I can't believe you've gone that long without blood. What were you thinking?!"

"Well, I believe I was thinking something along the lines of: 'I have to save Sydney, and everything else is trivial in comparison'," I said honestly.

Horror filled her features—but I knew it was horror at the idea of me going so long without blood and potentially endangering myself, not horror of the blood drinking itself like it used to be. "Adrian…" She shook her head again, and her body began trembling as her eyes flicked back down to my wound and then shifted back up to study my features again.

She was silent for a long moment, just staring at me intently and assessing my current condition. She seemed to be waging a mental war, and then, at last, resolve filled her expression and she met my eyes and boldly declared, "Okay. You need blood…and I'm going to give it to you."

**SYDNEY POV:**

Adrian stared at me in utter shock as I spoke those words, like he was just waiting for me to drop the punch line. And then, after an immeasurable amount of time, a small, weak smile tugged up his lips as his eyes found mine. "Oh, yeah? You got a couple bags of blood stowed up your total lack of sleeves there, do you?"

I didn't bother gracing his comment with a response; instead, I locked onto his gaze and, without any fear or hesitation whatsoever, spoke the words, "No, you're going to drink from _me_."

"Sage—" he began, a note of warning in his voice, but I instantly cut him off.

"Don't argue with me," I shot back. "You're losing strength, even as we speak. We're doing this."

"No, we are not!" he returned, his voice taking on a sudden fierceness that I wouldn't think it could possess considering the circumstances. "Come on, Sage, let's be honest here. You've seen me a hell of a lot worse than this before. This is nothing. I'll just make do on granola bars and trail mix or whatever else it is that Abe packed in there for us. But there is no way in hell I'm drinking from you. I'd rather die down here in this hellhole than subject you to _that_."

"Adrian, after the lengths you just went to to free me from my own hellhole, this is a small thing in comparison," I pointed out. "I promise you, I'm fine. After the hell I just endured, giving you blood to ensure your survival seems about as terrifying as giving you some cheese and crackers."

Despite my brave words, my body still began trembling as I moved to put my plan into action—through no control of my own—and Adrian's hands reached out and grabbed hold of my upper arms to steady my trembling.

"Sydney…" he said gently, "you don't have to do this."

"You're absolutely right," I agreed. "I don't have to. I want to. I want to help you. I wanna be there for you, like you were for me back there. Now…" I moved into the optimum position and tilted my head, giving him full access to my neck. "Do your thing."

I could see the war waging in his eyes. He really didn't want to force me into anything I didn't want…but at the same time, he was far too weak to resist the need for blood. It was going too strong after everything he'd gone through these past several weeks, and it was only a matter of time before he gave in.

"Adrian, please," I pleaded, the desperation in my voice startling him. "Just do it. I can't lose you again."

And that was what broke him.

I tensed up in anticipation, my whole body stiffening as he leaned over and sank his teeth into the tender skin of my throat. I cried out at the brief pain of his teeth piercing my skin, but that cry instantly melted into a moan of pleasure as those blissful endorphins brought on from a vampire's bite was pumped into my system. I had only been bitten one other time by a Strigoi—and that had been terrifying as hell, considering my life was very literally inches from being taken away from me—and I had forgotten how wonderful those endorphins really were.

He continued drinking greedily, and I lost track of the world around me—lost on that blissful high—until at last, he pulled away, looking completely rejuvenated. The color had returned to his face and he looked strengthened and ready to take on the world once more. It was a great look for him, I had to admit.

Things became fuzzy after that, and I had a vague recollection of Adrian making up a makeshift bed and then laying me down on a sleeping bag, gently placing my head on a pillow. I felt his hands smoothing down my hair and gently running along my skin, and then I felt his lips press a long, lingering kiss against my forehead.

And that was the last thing I remembered before the waters of unconsciousness dragged me under.

**ADRIAN POV:**

Sydney slept for a long time after that, and now that I was back up to full strength, I couldn't help but get caught up in my guilt and self-loathing as I watched her sleep. I didn't drink nearly enough to endanger her or risk her life—not by a long shot—but even one drop was a drop too many, as far as I was concerned. Damn it, what the hell had I been thinking, letting myself get to the point of such weakness that I had to use her like that? Nothing about that was okay, and I could never put her in that position ever again. I knew she would do it again in a heartbeat if it meant saving my life, but I couldn't stand subjecting her to something like that, considering how repulsed and disgusted I knew she was by it.

I lost track of how long she slept, but after a long while, she stirred in her sleep and I knew she was coming to. It took a bit longer than it ordinarily would have, considering the blood loss was still taking its toll, and again, I felt that anger at myself rear its head up within me, and I had to force myself to shove it down so I could focus on her right now instead. She was the only thing that mattered to me—the only thing that was important—and she had to have my undivided attention at this point.

Her eyelids fluttered open and she looked around groggily, like she couldn't remember where she was or what had happened. When her eyes fell on me, a weak smile crossed her lips and she reached up and gently placed her hand on my cheek. "Hey," she murmured wearily, reaching up with her other hand to pull me closer to her.

"Hey," I returned, holding my breath as I waited for reality to set in and for her to start freaking out with the realization that she had just given me her own blood here! But the inevitable freak-out never came. Instead, she locked gazes with me and studied me with utmost fondness and affection. "How are you feeling?" I asked at last, almost frightened to speak the words that would startle her out of this daze she was in.

"Never better," she said, that beautiful smile of hers widening. Joy lit her features as she looked up at me, and never before had I ever seen her so calm and at peace around me. Don't get me wrong, I know that I made her happy when we were together and the look on her face mirrored the look I would see on her face any time we had sex…only this was a deeper, more complete joy that went well beyond sex or even endorphins. It seemed like for the first time ever, she was truly happy, and nothing in this world could ever take that away from her. A warm feeling sprung up within me at that thought…until I realized that it was most likely my damn endorphins causing this ecstasy within her and making her believe she was walking on cloud nine.

"Do you…" I swallowed, not daring to put voice to my question for fear of the reaction it would elicit in her. "…do you…remember anything?"

"You mean, do I remember you busting me out of that Alchemist facility and then carrying me off into some underground tunnels and you drinking from me because you hadn't had blood in over two weeks?" she asked, in a voice that was quite similar to my own when people asked me questions like that. "Of course I remember," she answered her own question, before I could even muster a response. "How could I forget?"

I hung my head and closed my eyes, drowning in my despair and utter hatred for myself. "Damn it," I muttered under my breath, unable to face her after having been caught in a moment of such tremendous weakness. "God, Sydney…" The mere sound of her name caused me a searing, blinding agony. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. You should've never had to do that for me. I am so sorry I put you in that position. You have my word, it'll never happen again."

"Adrian…" There was a strange note to her voice that startled me, and I glanced up, unable to peg the emotions that were triggering her words right now. But as I looked at her and saw the compassion and love and empathy for me shining in her eyes, I knew exactly how she felt about feeding me in the moment when I needed it the most. She didn't feed me just because I needed blood and she was concerned about me possibly dying as a result. She fed me because she sincerely wanted to—because she wanted me to be okay, and she wanted to be the one that made me okay. God, that look in her eyes…the emotion and longing I saw there burned brighter than any aura I had ever seen in my life, and I wished at that moment that I could capture the contrast of emotions in her eyes and radiating in her aura. Then she could see just how magnificent and beautiful she truly was, not just to me, but to the entire universe. The universe could not function without Sydney Sage in it, and I needed so desperately to make her see that.

"I love you," she said, her voice choking up even as she spoke those words. "I love you more than anything else in this world, and if I had to, I would feed you a million times over. After going these few weeks without you, I know now that I am willing to do whatever it takes to keep you by my side, and if that means I have to become your own personal feeder…then so be it. You're the only Moroi I would ever consider doing that for, and the thought of feeding anyone else still terrifies me to my core…but for you...I'd do anything. I'd give anything for you, to be yours. Giving you my blood is a small thing in comparison to how far I'd go or what I'd do for you."

"Sydney, this isn't just about your fears about giving blood or the other Alchemist taboos that were instilled in you since the time you could crawl," I pointed out, desperate to make her see how awful this was for me to come to terms with. "You don't get it! I promised myself I would never do anything to hurt you and that I would never let anything happen to you. I already failed at not letting anything happen to you. You got taken away from me, out from right underneath my nose, because of my own damned stupidity in losing that phone. That wasn't supposed to happen. I knew, going in, what the risks were, and I was supposed to protect you from that. And I failed. And now I have to live with the fact that not only did I let you get taken, but I also had to…I had to—"

My words were cut off abruptly as she lurched forward and brought her lips toward mine in a crushing kiss. I had been on the verge of a total breakdown, but the power driving that kiss caught me totally off guard. My body stiffened up at first, caught completely unaware—and as impossible as it sounds, I found myself unsure how to respond. But within seconds, all my old instincts kicked in and I returned the kiss just as fiercely, exulting in the way it felt to have her lips pressed against mine and to feel her wrapped in my arms once more. God, I had never felt more alive than I did in this moment. All the pain, all the agony and suffering we had both endured had all been building up to this moment in time, and now with her in my arms, I knew without a doubt that it was all worth it. I wouldn't trade one second of that agony if I knew that it would lead to this moment.

I expected her to break the kiss and deliver more flowery speeches about how that wasn't my fault and how none of that mattered now, but instead, she apparently seemed to find it much more useful to respond in kind by throwing herself into our kissing—more fiercely and vigorously than she ever had before. It was unbelievable, just when I thought our sex life couldn't possibly become better or more passionate, she goes and proves me wrong once again.

I was even more shocked when she took the wheel this time and she performed a complex maneuver with ease which allowed her to be straddling my lap and somehow, she had us turned around so that she was laying me back on the sleeping bag that she had just been lying on. Her hands pressed hard against my chest and her hips began rubbing provocatively against my own as she fumbled to remove our clothes. Damn, I really taught her well. Or maybe it was just her insane ability to multitask talking, who could say?

No, I thought. No, I had nothing to do with it. This was all her.

I didn't even try to take control this time. I wanted her to call the shots this time, and after being deprived of each other for so long, I was incredibly eager to find out exactly what she had in mind and what she wanted to do to me to compensate for the lost time.

As it turned out, what she had in mind resulted in a two hour encounter that never once let up. It was incredible, but even if I started feeling tired or worn down, I felt this sudden strength and vigor fill me that wouldn't allow for such nonsense—and I knew Sydney felt that exact same vigor fuel her actions too. Neither one of us could seem to let go of the other and, even when it was over, we still clung to one another, refusing to let go for anything.

Her head rested against my chest and her arms were wound around my waist, while one of my arms was firmly wrapped around her back and the fingers were playing with strands of her hair and my other hand was gently cupping her face. I tilted her head up so that our eyes could meet, and I saw the love and affection for me shining in her eyes as she looked at me. My fingertips gently brushed along her cheekbone, and I offered her a smile, hoping that my face conveyed the same love and affection that hers did for me. Her answering smile for me indicated that it did and she shifted against me so that she could bring her lips up to mine for several soft, sweet kisses.

"I love you," I breathed, once she broke the final kiss and pulled away so that our lips were just a breath apart.

"And I love you," she returned. "No matter what happens next, we're going to be okay. You know that, don't you? We're going to stick together and we'll find a way out of this. But everything will be okay, one way or another."

"And the center will hold?" I asked, arching an eyebrow curiously.

That earned me the most breathtaking, radiant smile I had ever seen her give and she leaned down to press one final kiss to my lips. "Yes," she murmured. "The center will hold. After all, how could it not? It's us."

I nodded my agreement and drew her into my arms again for another kiss, swallowing off any other words she may have added. We didn't need words to express our emotions to one another; everything we felt for one another was clearly expressed in our actions and every motion made between us.

And as our bodies came together once more, I knew in my heart that the center really would hold and nothing would ever tear us apart again.


End file.
